Salir como una madrileña (Going out like a true Madrid inhabitant)

I previously posted about the nightlife here in Madrid, and how different it is from the United States. Last night, Thursday Sept. 29, we went on an adventure that showed us just how different they truly are.

Our night started at a really good Mexican place in Chueca. Really cheap food and drinks, and we got to watch some amateur salsa dancers while we ate. Then we headed off to La Latina, the location of the Bucket Bar. The bar's real name is Cervecería La Sureña, but we gave it a different name because you can buy 5 beers in a bucket for 3 euros. While there, we chatted with some Spaniards, giving our Spanish a little bit of a warm-up.
After leaving La Sureña, we found a promoter for a bar my friend Jeannette had been to, so we got in for free and got a free drink. It was pretty empty, because by Madrid standards we were out a little bit early. The music was fun though, and we hung out there for a little while.
By the time we left this bar, it was past 1 am, so the Metro had closed. So we headed off on foot to Puerta del Sol, the center of the city, to go to our favorite discoteca. We found a promoter we had met before who got us in for free and got us a free shot. We stayed there for a couple hours and danced. We met Americans, Spaniards, and other Europeans, and we chatted and danced the night away. After a couple hours, however, we got tired of dancing and being on our feet. So off we went.
Heading back to Sol, we decided to go to the Irish pub my friends love that they found their first night in Madrid, La Fontana de Oro. We did not find a promoter, mostly because it was late at night, but we just headed down to the basement to rest our feet. We met a group of Swiss students on a trip before they start college. We hung out with them for a while, since they were finishing up a game of pool. Then we all left together to try to find another discoteca. We had been approached by a promoter early in the night, so we headed in that direction
We found another promoter for the same place, so we followed him to his discoteca. Once we got there, his prices went up, and it turned out that two of the Swiss students weren't 18 yet, so they wouldn't have been able to get in.
At this point, we wanted to end our night, but it was only a little after 4, and the Metro doesn't reopen until 6. So we decided to head to where we had been told the best chocolate con churros can be found in Madrid. Turns out, its a 24 hour location, so we sat down to steaming hot chocolate and two heaping plates of churros. Everything was really thick and heavy, and I could barely finish my chocolate. We sat and chatted with the Swiss students until around 5:40, when we decided to head to the nearest Metro station to wait for it to open.

In the end, I didn't get home until after 6:30 am. It was a very long night, but I had a LOT of fun. Definitely not a schedule I could hold to every night like the true madrileños, but it was a great experience.

Barcelona!! (Sept 22-Sept 25)

This past weekend, I went to Barcelona with 4 of my friends from my study abroad program. It was the first trip that we planned all on our own, and it went really well! We went for the Festival de la Merce, that celebrates the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

We took a bus to Barcelona that left Madrid at 11:30 (it ran late so actually at 12:00 midnight) on Thursday night so we would arrive in the morning and have all of Friday in Barcelona. Riding a bus at night didn't seem like a bad idea, but after stopping three times, switching bus drivers, and having quite a lot of rowdy Americans on my bus, I don't think I will try it again. Once we arrived, we lugged our bags to our hostel, getting very lost along the way, but we finally made it, and in time for breakfast! We couldn't check in to our rooms until the afternoon, so we stowed our bags in their luggage room and went off to explore. We ended up seeing a cathedral, though I couldn't go inside because I didn't have my shoulders covered. Then we strolled up and down Las Ramblas, the main street in Barcelona. We saw street performers, and stopped in at the big market, La Boqueria. It was really cool to recognize places that I saw when I was in Barcelona 6 years ago, and remember visiting them and taking pictures. We then decided to visit Palau Guell, one of Gaudi's many architectural beauties. It was built for the family Guell, in collaboration with Eusebi Guell, one of Gaudi's close friends.

After we checked into our hotel, we went to the beach for the afternoon. The water was really clear, not Caribbean blue, but in chest-deep water I could see my toes. Me and my friend Alex swam out to a rock jetty and enjoyed the view of the coast and the city. Then everyone took a nap on the beach. We met up with my friend Ana, who lived on my floor freshman year of college, and she took us to a really great sandwich/salad place for dinner. Then we went to a little bar called Jet Lag, and chatted over some drinks until we met up with Ana again to go to a discoteca where you could walk straight out onto the beach. We got to meet a lot of Ana's friends, who all go to UMD, and it turns out that another girl from our floor freshman year, Abby, is in Barcelona this semester too, so I got to see her. We had a really great night, and got back to our hostel around 3 or 4 am.

Saturday, it rained all day. So a lot of the festival activities were cancelled or postponed. So we decided to go to La Sagrada Familia and hope that the rain let up for the festivities in the evening. However, my friend Q cannot enter churches, because it is against her religion, and since I had already been inside, we decided to wander around the city. Then we met back up with our other friends for a very delicious buffet lunch. In the afternoon, we went to Park Guell, another one of Gaudi's masterpieces. It was originally supposed to be a residential park, but the idea was abandoned, and it became a public park. We walked around the whole park, and toured Gaudi's residence, which is on the premises. After a dinner of tapas, we went to a concert. It was an Italian band, and it included drums, clarinet, accordion, guitar, tamborine, and a couple other instruments I recognized but can't name. It was really cool, especially since there were a lot of Italians around who danced.

Sunday was a beautiful day like Friday had been. We wandered around the city in the morning, after we checked out of our hostel. Then we watched troupes building colles, or human towers in English. It was a really incredible sight to see, especially since we were really close to two of the troupes. I even got a few videos of the building process. After that, we went back to the sandwich/salad place for lunch with Ana, after which we said our goodbyes. Our last visit was to El Parque de la Ciutadella, the largest and pretty much only park in Barcelona. There were a lot of activities for children going on, in honor of the festival. We just wandered around and took some pictures, and then headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and catch our bus.

We got back to Madrid a little after 1 am on Monday morning, but it was definitely worth the sleep deficit. I had a really great time. I can't wait to go back with my mom when she comes to visit in November, and see even more of the city. Even though I didn't want to study there, I still love the city of Barcelona, particularly all of Gaudi's amazing work.

Museums (part 1)

I list this as part 1 since I know that I will be going to many more museums this semester. But if I waited to write about them until I was all done, I wouldn't remember them all.

On Sunday, me and two of my friends spontaneously decided to go to El Museo de Esculture al Aire Libre. It is an outdoor sculpture museum. When we arrived, we realized that it only contains about a dozen sculptures. It is located under a bridge that crosses over El Paseo de la Castellana. The sculptures were modern, but very interesting. The one I liked the best was called The Mediterranean, but to me it looked like a type of crab. I probably thought that because it was bright red. This picture on the right is of the largest sculpture, a really interesting waterfall. The Mediterranean was in the center of the pool at the bottom, but I didn't get a picture.

Today, I went with three other friends to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. It is a really large museum, and has times during the week it is free, including Monday nights from 6 to 8. So we got to see a lot of the museum for free! But its big, so we are going to have to go back to see the rest. There was a bizarre modern temporary exhibit that none of us really liked. However, in the larger, permanent exhibits we all found art we liked. There is a lot of Picasso's work, as well as a lot of war and post-war work. My favorite piece was El Retrato de Sonia Clamery, Condesa de Pradére. It was beautifully done, with interesting and eye-popping color. I also enjoyed the art of a couple of artists, but I had nothing to write with to record them. It was only when I got to this painting that I remembered I had my camera and took a picture of the name plate. I do remember that I liked the work of Juan Gris, among others. I really enjoyed it, and I can't wait to go back.

Day Trip: SEGOVIA!

This past Friday, the 16th of September, I went on the first of two day trips planned by my study abroad program. We went to Segovia, a small town north of Madrid past the Central Mountain Range. There is a corresponding album of pictures for this trip on my photobucket.

We met in Madrid at 8:45 am, an early start, but we did have an hour-and-a-half long bus ride to get there. We went with two tour guides, Celia and Maria, who both spoke Spanish and English. However, Celia lead a English tour and Maria led a Spanish tour, so that everyone would be able to understand what we were seeing. Our first main stop was El Alcázar de Segovia. It was originally occupied by the Muslims, when they controlled most of Spain. It is a large castle, with old parts built by the Muslims and new parts built by "los reyes católicos" after the reconquest of Spain. Many Spanish royals lived there, including Queen Isabel and King Phillip II. It is thought/known that Walt Disney based his castle off of this one. And it is clear why when you approach the sand colored castle with opalescent blue turrets. It is not shaped like the Disney castle, but the similarities are very apparent. We took a tour of the castle, and climbed El Torre de Juan II, a tall tower with incredible views. It was very cool to see the contrast between the Muslim architecture and the Catholic architecture. My favorite aspect was the ceiling, because every room had a different ceiling and every ceiling was three dimensional and colorful.

The majority of Segovia is surrounding by a large wall built for protection during the reconquest of Spain. Those who could afford to pay taxes lived within the wall, and those who couldn't, didn't. Besides the wall, we also got to see one of the gates used to enter the city, and Plaza Major. Every city and town has a Plaza Mayor, where City Hall is located and important events occur. Many cities do not use them as they used to, but in Segovia the tradition continues. We got some free time before lunch, and got to wander around a bit. Going into the large cathedral cost money, so we took pictures of the outside and looked inside some other, smaller churches. In la Iglesia de San Martín, you could see a stark separation between the older construction and the newer construction, which was very interesting. I really enjoyed the older architecture, and the fact that most of Segovia has been restored or is currently being restored.

For lunch, we had a traditional Segovian dish, cochinilla. In English, this is suckling pig. The most interesting part of the experience was that they brought the first pig out, and a man cut it with the side of a plate. He cut through bone and muscle, dividing the pig into 8 approximately equal pieces. When he was done, he threw the plate on the ground and it smashed. After that, the rest of the pigs were brought out already cut. We also had a plate of cooked vegetables, salad, bread, and a wonderful cake with ice cream for dessert. Lunch in Spain is definitely the best meal of the day, and my favorite.

After lunch we went to see the Roman aqueduct that is still standing and intact. Some of us, many of us actually, had already seen the aqueduct while we were roaming around during free time. We got to hear a bit about its history, and then we piled back on the bus. Next we drove to La Granja de San Ildefonso. It is also known as Palacio Real, because it was used by many Spanish royals as a summer house. We did not tour the inside of the palace, but we got to explore its gardens. They are quite extensive, and very beautiful. There are sculpted gardens, groves of trees, empty fields, and countless fountains. There is even a labyrinth map of hedges, with secret passageways and dead ends. According to our map, there are 26 main fountains. We saw around 6 or 7 in total, and they were all beautiful. Something interesting we noticed is that almost all the statues and fountains were cast in bronze. I enjoyed wandering around looking at all of nature's beauty. Unfortunately, the fountains are only turned on a couple times a year for special occasions, but many of them are still beautiful dry.

I really enjoyed my trip to Segovia. It is a beautiful and quaint European town, with small cobblestone streets and winding roads. I am grateful that USAC decided to take us there for one of our day trips, because it was well worth it.

Laundry in Spain

So I knew doing laundry here would be different than in the US, but I didn't realize how many speedbumps I would run into...here are a couple accounts of my troubles so far.

First, I live on the 10th floor of my apartment building, which is equivalent to the 11th floor of a building in the United States because here there is a Piso/Planta Baja (ground floor) in every building. And since most people in Spain don't have clothes dryers, I have to hang all of my laundry out the window. This made me extremely nervous, because I wouldn't want to lose any of clothing.

For my first attempt at laundry, I decided to handwash some clothes, so that I would only be tackling the clothesline aspect of the process. Plus, some of my clothes are handwash only. That part went pretty well, though I wish I didn't have to do it in our small kitchen sink. And by some miracle, I didn't lose any clothes off of the line.

That was last week. This week, I had to use the washing machine as I was not about to handwash very sweaty t-shirts and a pair of jean shorts. It seemed easy enough, my landlord had posted instructions (in English, though quite broken English) on the front of the washer. I could follow them pretty well, except the last step, "Take out the bottom." I had no idea what this could mean. I figured it couldn't be too important and went ahead and washed my clothes. Well, after the load was done, I waited the recommended 10 minutes to open the automatic lock door. When I did, water came spilling out on the kitchen floor. I quickly shut the door and called for one of my roommates to bring me some more towels. While I sat on the floor mopping up the water, I realized that there was a round cover about the size of a tomato sauce jar lid that I had tried to pry open before. I decided to turn it in place; water again came rushing out onto the floor. At this moment, my roommate remembered that the washing machine somehow had to be drained before the clothes were removed. I attempted, bit by bit, to drain the washing through this cover, but most of the water went on the floor, me, and the towels I had around me. So instead, I hand squeezed all of my laundry and took it out to dry. Then I bailed out the washer from the main portion, hoping this would solve my problems. However, every time I turn the small cover, water again comes pouring out onto the floor.

So I ended up with dry clothes, which I presume are clean but I can't entirely guarantee, sopping wet towels hanging out to dry, a clean kitchen floor (if the water that was draining was clean to begin with), and a missing sock that I lost off the clothesline in my haste to hang everything out to dry. I still haven't exactly figured out how to fix the washing machine for the next time someone needs to wash their clothes, but I plan on sticking to handwashing until then.

El corrido de toros

This past saturday, the 10th of september, I went to my first bull fight. It only costs 10 euros for every seat in the arena, and we got front row seats in section 7. Most of the action happens in section 9, so we were able to see a lot. Most bull fights, including this one, last 2 or 3 hours and include 6 bulls. The largest bull we saw was over 550 kilos!

The bull fight began with a procession of the matadors, the horsemen, and the assistants that do a lot of behind the scenes work. Then, the matadors take some time to prepare themselves for the first bull. There are three main matadors, and each gets to dance with two bulls. There is a band that signals when each stage should finish and the next begin.

The first stage begins with the matadors tiring the bull by taunting him and causing him to run across the arena many times. They use their hot pink capes (a surprising aspect) and then run behind small walls along the edge of the arena. After this is done, two riders on armored horses enter the ring. The matadors continue to taunt the bulls, and then the riders will taunt the bulls and cause them to charge at the horses. This was my least favorite part. The horses are blindfolded with their ears covered and their mouth bound shut. While the bull is ramming into the side of the horse, the rider is stabbing the bull in the back with a long spear. The third stage, the horses leave and the matadors continue to taunt the bull. Some of the matadors use long rods, about 2 or 3 feet long, to stab the bull in the back. They have to get very close to the bull and let him charge at them to drive them in. They have hooks in the end to keep them in the bull's back. After this stage, the main matador is alone with the bull in the ring. Other matadors are waiting behind the small walls just in case something goes wrong. The main matador has a red cape and sword. After "dancing" with the bull, the matador prepares to strike with the sword. The best matadors drive the sword into the bull so far that only the handle can be seen. Then the other matadors return to the ring to tire the bull out and cause it to fall down and collapse. The bull is then killed with a dagger directly to the back of the neck/base of the skull.

I expected to be much more disgusted by the entire spectacle than I was. It is actually a beautiful art, and you can tell that it takes a lot of skill and courage to remain so focused and accurate close to such a large, powerful animal. I will admit that after 4 or 5 bulls, they all seem similar and the night drags on a bit. However, every matador is different and it is interesting to see them all and how they present themselves in the ring. The three main matadors that I saw were the young 20-year-old with quite a lot of confidence and talent, a Portuguese man, and a matador on the small side. By far my favorite was the 20-year-old, mostly because he displayed so much talent at such a young age, and he also was very good at pleasing the crowd. During his dance with his second bull, he made a couple mistakes, but he stayed focused on and attentive to the task at hand.

I wouldn't recommend going to a bull fight every weekend, but it definitely was something worth seeing. I doubt I will go again any time soon, but I would never have wanted to miss such an important part of the Spanish culture.

First week of classes!

I decided to wait to post about my first week of classes until it was over because it was so hectic. I am taking three classes this semester. Spanish Language Track IV, Spanish Literature I, and Short Story. Both literature classes will count towards my Spanish major back at UMD, and the Spanish language class is required by my program. Language meets 4 times a week, and the other two each meet twice a week. That adds up to something very important: NO CLASS ON FRIDAYS!!!

However, this week didn't go as anyone had planned. On Monday, the bus was packed full so I had to run to the metro. I was late to class, but my class was cancelled. It turned out that my teacher for both Language and Short Story had a doctor's appointment that morning and then broke her wrist that night, meaning that neither class met on Monday or Tuesday. We had a substitute teacher for Language Wednesday and Thursday, but my Short Story class doesn't start until next Tuesday.

However, the classes that I have gone to this week have been great. My Literature class is really interesting, we are going to read La Celestina and Lazarillo del Tormes. I have already read Lazarillo, but it has been about 4 years and I enjoyed it the last time. Also, near the end of the semester we are going to the theatre! I am really excited for that because I am sure it will be a great experience. I think my Language class will be a challenge, but that will be good because many of my Spanish classes in my life have been easy for me. Especially since this one is at 9:10 am Monday through Thursday, I will have to be awake and attentive. I am hoping that it will help me broaden my vocabulary and improve my speaking skills.

So far I really enjoy my university. It is a 20 minute bus ride from my apartment, and I have to change buses once. It is really small, there are only 4 buildings and two outdoor courtyard areas, so its not normal for people to hang out on campus after class. The Spanish way is to go to class and leave again. We try to follow the same rule, but I always stay after class to eat lunch in El Restaurante. It costs 4,90 euros, and you get bread, two plates of food, a drink, and dessert. Since lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, they give you a lot of food for a low price, which is incredible. If you eat everything you are given, it isn't hard to last until dinner around 9.

Fotos!

From now on, my picture of my trip will be posted on my photobucket. You can find it by searching "tdouglas17871" and all the pictures are public. Let me know if there are any problems

First weekend of nightlife

As many people know, Spain and many other European countries have a very different nightlife than the United States. After very late dinner, it is customary to go out around 12 or 1 and stay out until 4 to 6 in the morning. Especially since the metro stops at 1 and starts running again at 6. In my few days here so far, I have experienced many aspects of the Spanish nightlife.

My first night in Spain, many people from my program went out all together to a small bar inside of a hostel. We much overwhelmed the Spaniards in the bar, mostly because we were out around 10:30, which is much too early for them. A lot of students were talking and laughing, and some were playing American drinking games. Eight of us decided to leave and get away from the huge group that was making their foreign status very obvious. A couple people had been in Spain earlier than me, and so they took us to an Irish pub nearby where you could get free shots, or chupitos. Men and women who work for the bars stand outside in plazas nearby and offer you chupitos to get you to come to their bar. They are very watered down but they get you inside the bar or club. We had a lot of fun just sitting around in the basement of the bar chatting and getting to know each other.

On this past Friday night, we decided to try our hand at a discoteca, or dance club. Some people recommended Kapital, a 5 story club with a 12 euro cover before 1 am. After lots of changed plans, we ended up a smaller one story discoteca near the center of the city, and the boys in our group each payed a 6 euro cover. That part of going out is still much like the United States: boys pay, girls don't. But once we were in, we danced all night and it was pretty fun. Getting home was a challenge because we had looked up buses from Kapital and we left well before 6 am. So after wandering around and taking 4 different buses, we got home around 5:30 am. A night well spent that taught us about the importance of planning a route home.

Saturady night, four of us decided to explore the gay neighborhood of Madrid, Chueca. It is known to have a very active nightlife. Upon arrival, we walking into a bustling plaza full of bars and people. After walking around eating gelato, we came upon a wine bar/restaurant. We spent many hours sitting enjoying a glass of wine, chatting to get to know each other. It was a very nice change from the crazy atmosphere of the discoteca, and it allowed us to just relax. After the bar closed, we walked to a bus station and went home. A much more successful night, transportation wise.

Orientation

Over the past three days, we have had our orientation. The first day was only a welcome dinner on Wednesday with all of the students together.

Thursday, we got our metro cards, exchanged money, some people bought cell phones, and then we had a housing meeting with our housing coordinator Gabriela. The final part of our day was to meet with a student who would take us to our apartment and show us around our neighborhood(barrio). Our student guide was named César. He was very nice and spoke English very well. He showed us up to our apartment and we met our landlady and the building manager. Then we walked around our barrio, called La Elipa, and saw the bus stops, the closest supermarket, and some other stores. We then walked to El Carmen metro stop, one of the two closest metro stops to our apartment.

Our academic orientation was Friday. We took a tour of the universidad, which is quite small compared to any in the US that I have been to. We then took a placement test to determine if we signed up for the right level of Spanish. After that, we had a huge, inexpensive lunch on campus while we waited to meet with Alvaro our program director. I got my class schedule and then we were free to go.

¡Mi Apartamento!

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Apartment!

Apologies for not posting for a couple days. The hotel we stayed at for our orientation charged for internet so I didn't use it.

My roommates and I moved into our apartment today. It is quite spacious and very nice, I would definitely say better than my house back in college park. I will definitely post pictures later today once I move all of my stuff in.

My roommates names are Rachel and Qundeel. Rachel is from Seattle but she goes to Boise State, and Qundeel goes to Cal State Northridge. We are very excited to be living together and starting our semester on Monday.

Time to go unpack, I will send another update soon!

Waiting for the plane (written on Aug 30, 3:38 pm)

I'm sitting in the BWI airport, waiting for my puddle-jumper plane to Philadelphia. It's a part of the airport I have never been in, no restaurants or shops, just chairs and sliding doors out onto the tarmac. I arrive with plenty of time to get through security and find my gate, and now have watched two earlier flights board.

I have mixed emotions about leaving today. I am very excited to be going to Madrid and starting my semester abroad, but it still feels unreal. I said goodbye to my family and friends, but I still feel as if nothing different has begun. Hopefully my long overseas flight will make it real for me, and if it doesn't, there is always the moment I step into the airport in Madrid.